Loose Ends
by Devdog64
Summary: 'It was a stupid miscalculation. He knew it, understood that. A part of him had most likely realized it at the time, but he had seen red the moment the words were spoken.' Kurapika-centric, one-shot, set during Greed Island Arc, T to be safe.


Author's Note: Pretty short, Kurapika-focused. I think on the timeline, it'd be during Greed Island? I don't think Gon exited the game once he got in, but we'll just say he did for the story's sake. I wrote it a long time ago and just got around to editing, so that's why I'm not too clear on the when persay. Also, Kurapika might be a little ooc, but I think it calls for it. I might be willing to turn it into a longer piece, but at this point, I'm not sure where I would take it. Reviews welcome! Enjoy!

It was a stupid miscalculation.

He knew it, understood that. A part of him had most likely realized it at the time, but he had seen red the moment the words were spoken.

"Hello, Kurapika." The voice was cool, but mocking at the same time. He was used to that from the caller though and felt nothing wrong.

"Hisoka? What do you want? I'm busy." And indeed he was. Earning over a billion zeni would take a while even for the revenge-driven hunter. He had been taking side jobs of finding and returning stolen objects and missing people. He had stopped taking calls on missing children and women after the first week, then he gave up on missing persons calls altogether. Items couldn't be tortured, raped, or killed before he got there. In retrospect, he should have known that his senses had been altered by what he'd seen in the past few weeks.

"You just retrieved something I wanted. And there's someone here who agrees with me."

"What?" Kurapika looked at the package under his arm. He didn't even know what it was; his employer instructed him to deliver it unopened. There was the swift movement of air as the phone was passed to someone.

"Kurapika?" Kurapika froze.

"Gon?!" he shouted into the receiver.

"What's going on?!" Another voice.

"K-killua?" he had never heard the boy sound so scared. Something was wrong. They didn't know it was Hisoka or… The brief sound of air rushing past came through.

"Now you understand."

"You bastard! If you hurt them—"

"There won't be any need for that if you give me what I want, now will there?"

"Where?"

"Hmmm?"

"The exchange, where?" There was a pause and a rustling of papers.

"You're in Yorkshin, right? Meet me in Mital Park, it's twenty miles east. Be there by sundown." Kurapika was already exiting the train station.

Kurapika nearly closed the phone, but Hisoka's voice brought it back to his ear.

"Don't be late." He could practicably see the demented magician's smile. Hisoka always held all the cards… literally. And how he loved making that fact known.

Kurapika considered calling Senritsu, but he decided it was better to get this over with quickly and get rid of the red haze over his eyes.

...

Kurapika, through his rage, was able to appreciate the empty town. Hisoka hadn't brought anyone else into this, probably unwittingly, but no one else would be able to get involved and that's all that really mattered.

Kurapika was hardly shocked to see Hisoka boldly standing in the main square of the town, but what did surprise him was that Gon and Killua weren't there to play their part in Hisoka's dramatic act.

"You're a little early." Hisoka said, a little nonchalantly.

"Shut up! Where are Gon and Killua?!" Kurapika nearly growled.

"I guess they might be ready now though." Hisoka replied, mostly to himself.

There was a pause. "What?"

"Darn, Kuroro was right. I thought it was a safe bet that you'd sense them from at least a mile away." There was something sinister implied behind those words and Kurapika's instincts instructed him to stop focusing so much on Hisoka and maybe more on his surroundings.

He felt something hard lurch in his stomach. Nearly a dozen people using In were located throughout all the buildings around him. Furthermore, he couldn't sense Gon or Killua and realized how stupid it was to leave the phone on silent.

'5 missed calls… Leorio, Killua, Gon, Senritsu (2)'. Something clicked in Kurapika's mind, but he knew it was too late.

"Ambush…?" he heard himself say, but he couldn't focus. Through a black tunnel, he saw Hisoka grin and nod, a card over his mouth.

"How could you expect me to refuse a bet to quicken the waiting time? Of course, now I have to wait a year for him to fight me. If only you weren't so reckless..." Hisoka shrugged. "But then you wouldn't be so interesting." His eyes flashed, but his voice was far away, almost like a dream. Hisoka took out a small device and pressed a button.

"Kurapika?"

"What's going on?!" They were recordings.

Kurapika felt like he was going to faint, like before, but nothing was releasing him from reality this time. Whatever it was that pulled the phone to his ear to answer the call he thanked it tremendously, for it compelled him to find and speak the only words that would prevent them from coming after him.

"Hello, Leorio?"

"Ne, it's Killua, but we're all here. Senritsu called. Why haven't—"

"I got a lead on the eyes. I won't be able to answer the phone in the country I'm going to for a while." His voice sounded excited, believable, though the words weren't his own.

"How long, how long?" Gon's eager voice came on. There was a dull realization that this would be his last conversation with them.

"I'm not sure. It's a last minute deal, but I really think it's worth it! I just wanted to tell you guys-and could you tell Senritsu, too?-before I headed off that-" the certainty in his voice faded until his words broke off and unshed tears added more to the haze over his eyes. He shouldn't have taken it here.

"Kurapika, what's wrong?" Gon asked, obvious concern laced with his words. The chain was gathering in a pile at his feet now.

"You're..." he didn't know if he could even say it, if he should.

"Kurapika, are you alright?" Leorio sounded nearly fearful. But he couldn't force his throat to open any further. Hisoka was looking at him with an odd expression now, but the clown was the last person on his mind at the moment.

"...the best friends I've ever had." He choked out. "And-"

"What's going on, Kurapika?! What's happened?!" Killua was shouting.

"I'm going to miss you." His hand was shaking as he brought it away from his ear, the tinny voices of his closest friends still reaching him, yelling, pleading. "I'm sorry." he said loud enough to be picked up on the phone, before snapping it in half and tossing it aside.

He wiped his eyes on his sleeve, any sign of grief disappearing from his face and demeanor in a second. Kurapika lifted his chain as he was surrounded.


End file.
